Rico - A Tale Of Two Brothers - Android

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#1

Hey there!

I recently released my newest game “Rico - A Tale Of Two Brothers”. It’s a retro-inspired platformer, that mixes elements from many great classics like Super Mario, Castlevania or Metroid with my own humble ideas. I’ve also received comments about its resemblance to VVVVVV.
Bottom line: I wanted to create a game I would have loved to play as a child and still love to play now!

I know, I know, … a platformer on a mobile device, where on-screen controls normally don’t work very well. But I can assure you that I’ve put much work into making the controls as tight and responsive as possible… and I’ve had numerous people telling me that the controls do work really well for them! So why not give it a try? :slight_smile:

You can try out the lite version for free here:


The full version is available here:

And you can watch a gameplay video here:

http://planet-wars.net/rico/screen02.png

http://planet-wars.net/rico/screen01.png

http://planet-wars.net/rico/screen03.png

Rico currently features 19 levels (more to come soon), 4 difficulty levels, boss battles, collectible crystals, numerous different enemies and traps and a lovely retro-soundtrack!

Thanks for checking it out! :slight_smile:

#2

0.0

This looks… amazing!

I wish you had a desktop version available; I don’t have an android device, but would love to buy and play this!

| Nathan

#3

I have not tried it yet, but from the video it looks great! I like the looks of it. Now, does it work with Phonejoy? I recently got one, and I imagine I’m not the only one with this idea: Not-so-simple touch controls are not very good, when playing any action-game.

If it doesn’t already, I think adding functionality for the PhoneJoy will benefit you. :slight_smile: I will buy my copy if it does, that’s for sure.

#4

Thanks! ;D

I plan to release a desktop version for Windows, Mac and Linux. But as it’s much harder to push out updates than for Android, I want to increase the game content-wise before I do that.

But you can download the lite-version for the desktop here:
http://planet-wars.net/rico/RicoLite.jar.zip
Please note that it’s still mostly optimized for Android, so some things might feel off, like bringing up the ingame menu. But you can test the game just as well! :slight_smile:
Controls are:
Left/Right: Arrow keys
Jump: X, space
Attack: Y, Z, left control
Menu: Escape

Have fun! :slight_smile:

It should work, as I added support for the Xperia Play recently (and the PhoneJoy docs even tell they use the same keycodes). But I had to “develop in the dark”, because I don’t own one and can’t test if it actually works. If you find the time, could you test with your PhoneJoy and tell me? That would be awesome! :slight_smile:

#5

[quote=“IMakeGames,post:4,topic:39553”]
Most definitely. I expect to pick it up tomorrow, so I’ll get back to you. :slight_smile:

#6

Just played through the lite version and it was really fun ;D

A minor thing I noticed it that the character has a push “animation” when I run against a wall,
but when I actually push an object he just runs against it. Intentional? :stuck_out_tongue:

Also I got a little tired of collecting the yellow diamonds towards the end, but that’s just my usual impatience.

Great game, you can be proud of it :slight_smile:

One question: Did you make the music yourself? If so, what software did you use?

#7

[quote=“Gjallar,post:6,topic:39553”]
I’m also interested in this. Bfxr/sfxr can probably satisfy with the sfx, but that alone won’t make a game.

[quote=“Gjallar,post:6,topic:39553”]
I didn’t go very far (a couple of levels) because of the touch-controls. What is the incentive to collect the diamonds? It seems I’ll get the power-ups anyway.

#8

[quote=“Mads,post:7,topic:39553”]

[quote=“Gjallar,post:6,topic:39553”]
I’m also interested in this. Bfxr/sfxr can probably satisfy with the sfx, but that alone won’t make a game.

The main music theme is made by a musician called Bunnymajs. I can’t put into words how awesome his music is! Check him out at http://bunnymajs.newgrounds.com/ it’s just epic! :slight_smile:

The more diamonds you leave behind and not collect throughout each world, the more health rico (the boss at the end of each world) has. If you collect all coins in a world, he has only 3 hearts/hitpoints when you face him. I might need to make that mechanic clearer, but I’m not sure yet how.

BTW, I’m glad for every 5 star rating i get in the Android store! :wink:

#9

Bought it a while ago, played until the end of what was available back then. Most excellent. I just saw there’s an update, gonna try it out now :slight_smile:

#10

I really like this game. It seems to be very polished! :slight_smile:

First, I really love the music and graphics. The colos are choosen very well! And the particle effects are awesome…
Also, the way you move the camera/view is very intresting. Feels pretty good, and seems to be a very big element in the game and more than some bad player-in-the-mid-following-camera…

The first time I saw a checkpoint, I thought it would be one of these typical “spikes” and evil. You could have propably added in something like a “checkpoint” text above it. (Don’t add this things now. It’s experience you gain for your next games :slight_smile: )
Also, it seems like traps activate too early… or maybe it’s just me ::slight_smile:

Some little things too:
I hate loading screens… :frowning:
I would like to have a mute music/sound button… Sound volume is not needed here :slight_smile:
And a little pause button wouldn’t be too bad :slight_smile:

Also one thing I’d like to add:
I have heard of “IMakeGames” before somewhere… I don’t know where… Somewhere around reddit in minecraft or starbound? Writing questions for AMAs? Dunno…

#11

I didn’t even pay attention to the camera, so I guess it was done way right.

#12

YES! This is exactly how it should be. :slight_smile:
IMHO, games platformers can suffer hugely from a bad camera. It’s actually quite hard to get right, even though it seems like an easy task at first.
You don’t want too sudden changes in positioning. If you follow the player too tightly, the game becomes too “nervous” in a way. Especially when the player is jumping up and down.
On the other hand, you want the camera to show enough of the player’s surrounding (and ideally the important things!). If you don’t, the player gets too cautious and starts noticing the camera, which is just as bad.

[quote]I hate loading screens…
[/quote]
No way around that… :frowning:

[quote]I would like to have a mute music/sound button… Sound volume is not needed here
[/quote]
You mean in game? Because you can reach the options menu from the main menu where you can set that…

[quote]And a little pause button wouldn’t be too bad
[/quote]
The in game menu is not good enough? Why would you need a dedicated pause function?

[quote]I have heard of “IMakeGames” before somewhere… I don’t know where… Somewhere around reddit in minecraft or starbound? Writing questions for AMAs? Dunno…
[/quote]
I played neither minecraft nor starbound very much, let alone be active in the communities… and I don’t even know what you mean by AMAs… so I guess I’m somebody else… 8)

#13

You mean in game? Because you can reach the options menu from the main menu where you can set that…

[quote]And a little pause button wouldn’t be too bad
[/quote]
The in game menu is not good enough? Why would you need a dedicated pause function?
[/quote]
Lol

I played neither minecraft nor starbound very much, let alone be active in the communities… and I don’t even know what you mean by AMAs… so I guess I’m somebody else… 8)
[/quote]
And again

| Nathan

#14

It’s android game but wide screen?

#15

Umm, it’s whatever resolution the android device has. The screenshots have 800x480 because it’s a very widespread resolution…

??? Maybe I was unclear. When I said in game menu I mean the menu you can bring up during a level. It also pauses the game. :slight_smile:

#16

The in game menu is not good enough? Why would you need a dedicated pause function?
[/quote]
Lol
[/quote]
Sorry. Just tried to test a game and wanted to say what I noticed while playing.

Yeah… idk. It seems to be “convention” to put one mute, pause and mute music button somewhere in the edge of the screen. Or at least it feels like that.

I usually don’t try to find something like that in Options, but in case I would really need it, i guess I’d find it then.

#17

Browser games, yes. Android games, no.

#18

Lol
[/quote]
Sorry. Just tried to test a game and wanted to say what I noticed while playing.

Yeah… idk. It seems to be “convention” to put one mute, pause and mute music button somewhere in the edge of the screen. Or at least it feels like that.

I usually don’t try to find something like that in Options, but in case I would really need it, i guess I’d find it then.
[/quote]
Heh… I was genuinely interested if you had the need for that because I was thinking about adding it. The problem is, on smaller screens, these buttons would take up a lot of screen space. Space I’d like to fill with more interesting stuff. :slight_smile:
Furthermore, every Android device I know of has hardware volume controls… so decided against it.

#19

Installed the trial version, it ran pretty fine on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.

I agree with what someone said about the touch controls. They work surprisingly good, probably because you only have 2 buttons each side. Anyway, I think it would be a nice touch if you could have a small vibration feedback for the left hand if you change directions or your fingers slip away from the control area.

And since you achieved a good level of polishing, you could fix the bug when Rico’s brother is on a moving platform, he gets a little weird, sometimes the sprite animation changes to falling animation very quickly. I know it’s just a little detail, but it would to keep the high level of polish!

Good work, and good luck with the sales!

#20

I can report that Rico works wonderfully with the Phonejoy. Wee!